Beverage cooling container



Dec. 23, 1952 w. T. sKRzYcKl BEVERAGE COOLING coNTAINER Filed Deo. 2,1949 JNVENTOR. WILUAM T. SKRzYcK:

'4 7' TORNESJ Patented Dec. 23, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT DFFICEBEVERAGE COOLING CONTAINER William T. Skrzycki, Detroit, Mich.

Application December 2, 1949, Serial No. 130,745

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to a lrleveragev container, and inparticular to improved means for cooling the contents of a conventionaldispensing container such as a beer barrel or the like.

Prior to the present invention, it has been common to cool a beverage,such as beer for example, within its container by circulating a coolantfiuid through coils inserted within the container. Cleaning andrecoating of the interior of the container, as must frequently be done,particularly with beer containers and the like, is rend-ered diflicultwhen internal coils are used, and such internal coils frequently harborbacteria and other organisms which render them unsanitary. Such coolingmeans also tend to cool the entire contents of the container.Accordingly, they are unsatisfactory for use With metal containers, suchas conventional steel, alumlnum, or stainless steel beer barrels or kegssince there is a heat transfer from the atmosphere through the entiresidewall areas of such barrels or kegs, and the time required to chillthe beverage is materially increased due to the large volume of beveragewhich is being cooled and which is surrounded by thermal conductivematerial. Also objectionable sweating occurs in such installations dueto moisture condensation on the cold sides of the metal container.

Further, in such internal cooling coll constructions, both installationand Operating costs of the refrigerating system for the fiuid coolantare appreciably increased as a consequence of the cooling of the entirecontents of the metal container and the excessive heat transfer throughthe side- Walls thereof. Insulaton of such containers has been attemptedbut this adds to the cost of the container and greatly increases itsbulk.

Some prior constructions have embodied a coolant inlet port located nearthe top of a barrel and a coolant outlet port located near the bottom'of the barrel. This is a decided disad- Vantage since the port at thebottom must be plugged or closed to prevent loss of coolant when thebarrel is not connected to the cooling system. In addition, whendisconnecting a barrel involving such a construction from a source ofcoolant supply, the coolant then in the barrel will spill from theoutlet port until it is plugged. The present invention has solved thisproblem by a novel construction wherein both ports are on the samehorizontal level above the cooling chamber.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved,efiicient beverage cooling and dispensing container adapted to utilize aconventional tap rod, which will stratify the cooled beverage near thebottom of the container and adjacent the end of the tap rod, withoutcool-ing the entire beverage contents to the dispensing temperature, andwhich will, therefore, minimize cooling of the entire barrel and theresultant sweating of the side walls of such metal containers.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved andhighly efiicient cooling means for beverage containers, which isparticularly adapted for use With beverage dispensing barrels, which iseconom'ically installed either on existing barrels or as an integralfeature of new barrels, and which does not interfere with such cleaning,sterilizing, and recoating of the interior of the container as may berequired.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a cooling meansfor beverage containers, which includes a oooling chamber, and inlet andoutlet ports in communication with said cooling chamber and adapted tobe connected in a circuit of circulating fiuid coolant, the said portsbeing so located that the source of circulating coolant may be detached'from the outlet port without spilling coolant from the chamber and thecooling chamber can stand unplugged without leaking coolant therefromWhen it is filled with coolant.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a sturdy beveragecontainer having a cooling chamber affixed to the exterior thereof whichwill withstand rough handling, and wherein the cooling chamber -is wellbraced and strengthened to prevent buckling or denting of the coolingchamber during handling of the container.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a cooling meansfor beverage containers, particularly beverage dispensing barrels, whichis simple in construction, which provides an eflicient circulation ofcoolant so as to quick- 1y cool the desired portion of the beverage, andwhich is simple and sturdy in construction, thus being easily adaptedfor manufacture by mass production methods at low cost.

Other objects of this invention will appear in the following descriptionand appended claim, reference being had to the accompanying drawingsforming a part of this specification wherein like reference charactersdesignate corresponding parts in the several views.

A practical embodiment of the present invention comprises a barrel-likecontainer having an outside bung plate attached thereto and a draftattachment disposed on the top thereof. A shell is disposed around thelower sidewalls of the Container and spacecl therefrom to form a coolingChamber. Bafile plates are disposed within the Cooling Chamber betweenthe container sidewall and the shell to efficiently guide the flow of acoolant throughout the Cooling Chamber. Inlet and outlet -ports arelocated in the bung plate above the Cooling Chamber and communicate withthe Cooling chamber on different sides of a Separator plate which isdisposed within and obstructs the Cooling Chamber. The inlet and outletports are adapted for connection in a Circuit with a 'source ofcirculatng fluid coolant, preferably water.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a beverage container embodying the presentinvention, with 'portions broken away to reveal the internalconstruction..

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to beunderstocd that the invention is not limited in its application to thedetails of Construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in theacCompanyng-drawings, since the invention is capable of otherembodiments and of being practiced or carried out in Various ways. Also,it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employedherein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in the drawingsand comprises the all-metal welded barrel 19 having an outside type bungplate 11 disposed on the sidewall'thereof and extending outwardlytherefrom, and a tap seal 12 adapted to accommodate a conventional draftattachment or tap rod assembly v(not shown). The bung plate 1 1 isprovided with the tapered opening 13 which mates with the opening 14 inthe sidewall of the barrel 18 and communicates with the interior toallow filling of the said barrel 16. Two substantially Vertical conduits15 and 15 are disposed in the bottom portion of the bung plate 1 1. Thesaid ccnduits 15 and 15 terminate in ports 15a and 13a. near the bungopening 13 at one end and terminate in openings lb and 16h at the bottomof the bung plate 11 at the other end. Any suitable type of fiuidtightconnection may be provided between the ports 15a and 16a and the line(not shown) for supplyingor carrying away the fluid coolant.

The barrel 1 is provided near its bottom with spaced substantiallyVertical baffles il which are welded to the sidewall of the barrel 1G.The bafiies 11 are so located that they are in two horizontal levels,alternate bafiles being in the same horizontal level. The barrel 13 isprovided with the usual circumferential bumpers 18 which protect thebarrel and facilitate rolling thereof. An annular shell 19 is tightlyfitted over the lower end of the barrel and over the baffles Il. The topedge of the shell 19 is welded to the bottom portion of the lower bumper18, and the bottom edge of the shell 19 is welded to the sidewall of thebarrel 18 to provide a fluid-tight seal and form the Cooling chamber 29which extends over the lower portion of the barrel only. Thus, it willbe seen that when the shell 13 is secured in place, the chamber 29 isprovided with a series of bafiles 1'1 which are alternately open at thetop and `bottom to direct the fiow of Circulating coolant fiuld up anddown along the path indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1. Eight of suchbaflles 1'1 have been found satisfactory, but any suitable number may beused.

A Separator plate 21 is welded to the sidewall of the barrel 10 at thesame time the baflles 1'1 are welded in place. The Separator plate 21 isso formed as to completely obstruct the Cooling chamber 20, and islocated in the Cooling chamber 20 below the bung plate 1 1 in a Verticalplane which extends between the Conduits 15 and 16 in the bung plate 11.Thus, when a circulating coolant is led in through one of the ports 15aor Ha, it must necessarily pass out lthrough the other of the saidports.

'The container of the present invention is installed and operated asfollows: The port 15a, for example, may be considered the. inlet port. Asource of circulating coolant fiuid (not shown) is attached to the inletport 15a. The port 16a, which then becomes the-outlet port, is connectedto a drain or coolant supply tank. The coolant is circulated along theup and down path indicated by the arrows in Fig. l-and elfectively coolsthe beverage in the lower portion of the container, finally contactingthe separator plate 21 and passing out the outlet port 16a.

Shut oif valves, not shown, may be provided, if desired, within theports 15a and 16a so as to prevent coolant fluid within the CoolingChamber 20 from escaping when ports 15a and 16a are not connected withthe Cooling system, as for example when the barrel is in transport fromthe brewery or held in reserve as a stand-by. However, due to theConstruction of the present'invention wherein the ports are located on ahorizontal level above the Cooling chamber,- such valves are notnecessary and any conventional means such as rubber stoppers, forexample, can be used to close the ports.

i Inasmuch as beverages such as beer having high water content are poorthermal Conductors, a relatively shallow layer of the beverageis quicklychilled tov the dispensing temperature and stratified at the bottom ofthe barrel 10. By virtue of Cooling from below, convection currents areavoided in the beverage. Consequently the beverage temperature rapidlydrops near the bottom of the barrel 10, while the temperature of themajor portion of the beverage above the lower chilled layer rem'ainshigher. Thus, sweating of the sidewalls is substantially avoided exceptat a relatively small lower portion thereof. Furthermore, inasmuch asthe main body of the beverage is warmer than the chilled bottom layerthereof; the transfer of heat thereto is reduced to a minimum, with aConsequent reduction of the operating cost of the refrigeratingequipment for the fluid coolant.

A particular advantage of the Cooling means of the present invention isthat it may be readily and economically installed as an addition toexisting Containers of the type shown, which provide the bumpers 18.Installation merely requires forming of the conduits 15 and 16 in thebung plate 11. The bafiies 11 and the Separator plate 21 are thenaffixed to the side of the barrel 1iJ, and the shell 19 is secured atits upper edge against the lower bumper 18 and at the bottom edgeagainst the sidewall of the barrel IE).

The baffles 11 and Separator plate 21 provide additional strength forthe Cooling chamber and minimize the danger of damage to, or buckling ofthe chamber.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that I have provided an improved,efi'icient, simple, and economically Constructed beverage Container andCooling means. The construction affords Cooling of a layer of beveragenear the bottom of the Container without Cooling the entire beveragesupply. Thus, beverage near the bottom of the container from which it isdrawn may be rapidly cooled at a minimum time and Operating cost. Inaddition, sweating of the sidewalls of a metal container embodying thepresent invention is substantially eliminated without the additionalexpense of insulation.

Having thus described my invention, I Claim:

In a metal beverage Container and dispenser adapted to be cooled -by aCirculating fluid coolant, the combination of a Cooling Chamber alongthe lower sidewall thereof, the lower sidewall of the containercomprising the inner wall of said Cooling Chamber, and the outer wall ofsaid Cooling Chamber Consisting of a shell surrounding and spaced fromthe lower sidewall of the Container and having its top and bottom edgesse- Cured to said Container in a fluidtight seal; a plurality of spacedsubstantially Vertical baflle members extending between the inner Wallof said Cooling Chamber and the outer wall thereof, said bafile membersdefining a Vertical sinuous path for the fiow of fluid therethroughbetween the top and bottom portions of said Cooling Chamber; a Separatorplate which obstructs said' cooling Chamber and prevents passage of theCoolant fiuid therebeyond; a bung plate :disposed on the side of saidcontainer above said Cooling Chamber and having inlet and outlet'oonduits therein Communicating with said Cooling chamber on differentsides of said separatorplate.

WILLIAM T. sKRzYCKI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

